Many individuals are faced with inherently dangerous situations and circumstances as part of their service in a military, law enforcement or firefighting position, or the like. Such individuals not only are susceptible to encountering situations where they may be seriously injured, incapacitated or rendered unconscious, but also are susceptible to being the one person present when a fellow professional falls victim to such misfortune and is in need of immediate evacuation from such a setting.
There are prior art devices that have been used to evacuate or extract an injured, incapacitated or unconscious individual from a dangerous situation. Such devices typically include a separate tow or drag line, or a strap, that is carried by a rescuer and can be connected at a first end to the individual to be extracted or to a sheet, sled or other object on which the individual may be lying, and then grasped by or connected to a rescuer at a second end.
Unfortunately, in many situations, there is no sled or other device available, and there is insufficient time or freedom to manipulate a harness that would have to be separately carried and then donned by the injured individual and/or one or more rescuers. Existing devices are not configured for both an injured individual and a rescuer to be wearing the same garments and to have the garments work in cooperation with each other to assist in an extraction. Moreover, it is common for devices to include a single means by which to connect to or grasp the individual, which may not be convenient to a rescuer or provide an advantageous position for one or more rescuers to pull, tow or carry the individual to safety. When including a tow or drag line, the devices also typically include a single narrow line or strap that will not prevent the individual being dragged from twisting or rotating to a position on a side or face down, which may inflict additional injuries. The devices also commonly lack structure to support the individual in such a manner that, if the individual is conscious and coherent, the individual may observe and communicate with the rescuer with respect to the setting behind them. At present, there remains a need for improvements in devices for use by rescuers to evacuate or extract an individual from a dangerous situation.